Striving is all that matters.Get home and pull your agbada,Swallow soup with your amalaTo slightly fill your belliesAnd then curse the telliesTo visit your bed earlyFor early to bed is early to riseWhy do people say: "See Paris And Die"When the true paradise is in ladies' eyes?Lets cease ad

Condom sale has fallen in the marketHotels and bars are selling lessSinful words are spoken lessAnd ladies and moms have peace of mindThat their men has ceased infidelsLeaving Christain and AtheistsWith fornications and atrocitiesIn this month of Ramadan fasting.

The tone of the poem is sweet and that of praise. The tone glorified the beauty of "The Serving Girl" since ladies eyes are part of the factors that determine their beauty. The tone of the poem also praised the deligence and carefulness of the serving girl.

The setting of the poem is rural. What do I mean by setting? A setting of a poem is the time, place, circustances surrounding the scenario(s) of a poem. Looking at the poem, it is vivid that where the serving girl performed her service was local because the palm wine she served was from a "sleeping palm tree"(line 6) and she served the "food" of her customers or guests<!--more--> with a calabash "polished and smooth as sandalwood"(line 2) which was contrary to the fact that civilized gathers serve meals in plates or glasswares.

You do not need to stress your brain on the poetic devices.

The poem is simple a 8lines with a simple dictions. It poet strove to attain rhythm and rhyming scheme for the poem.

Simile existed in line 2&3 "smooth as sandalwood", "white as the foam of the sea". There are images of sight in line 2 "polished and smooth", in line 4 "Peppered and golden-fried", in line 5 "carelessly slips". The poem personified palm tree giving it a "honeyed lips". "The countless things she served with her eyes"(line 8) is an irony; an irony is a situation which is desirable but circumstances around it, made it valueless.

The theme of merriment. Every word in the poem showed that the poem speaker was having fun, maybe at a ceremonial gathering or at a local food and palm wine restaurant. The theme of seduction. This could be indirect or direct; the poem speaker made the readers to understand that while "The Serving Girl" was serving her customers or guests, her attractive, alluring, smiling eyes were serving other sweet motives to the hearts of the customers or guests.

The author, Acquah Laluah, whose real name was Gladys Casely-Hayford was a Sierra Leonean, a dancer, teacher, poet, etc. before she died in Ghana in the year 1960.

Like Mary the virgin whose hymen broke Through the birth Of a child she brought to earth, Saw Him take His last breathe And tasted death. While His blood showered the feet of those who crucified Him, His tears fell onto the women who cried for Him,As His soul embarked on a journey and sat on the right-hand of God, My love for you is infinite.

Like Samson whom before him an empress was portrayed, A promise was made, Through his beloved Delilah he was betrayed. Lost his eyes and power, Chained and Framed Like an animal in the temple. As the growth of his coarse hair filled his head, He requested for them to be put amongst the pillars for him to end his life and of those who took away his strength. My love for you is bond.

Like the Job whom lucifer tried, Took away his children, his cattle and aimed to get to him again through his bride Who told him to curse God and die. As the fetal sores of leprosy and boils that covered his body and in all of that, He never sinned. My love for you is genuine.

Like Sarah whose womb denied her children for years That at the age of ninety she conceived her first and only son at that time whom God requested him from Abraham, Her husband, as his sacrifice. My love for you is patient.

Like the intercourse between mother earth and the universe. As the drizzles of rain, The pleasures of immaculateness hit her abdominals, The universe moans and groans in Thunderstorms , Releasing his most thickest semen in the colour of righteous Uniforms, Leaving her womb moist with creativity. As she gives birth to life, Her erected nipples release a liquid that saturate ocean and streams, My love for you is natural.

Like the intercourse between my paper and ink, I hope for these to penetrate your heart and sink. Because my love for you is as pure as a mother's breast milk. And i pray for you more than i pray for myself and ask God to watch over you for me with His eye that cannot blink.

Copyright (c) 2015. Lady Black Poet. All Rights Reserved

NOTE: The source of the poem is from Facebook. It was posted on the Facebook wall of great poet: Empress-Lady Black Poet. Please, endeavor to find more of her beautiful poems on Facebook. Thanks

Themes of Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara

Gabriel Okara, the writer of “Piano and Drum” was born in Bayelsa state, Nigeria in 1921. A novelist and a poet; he was once a civil servant. His poem “Piano and Drums” was well beautified with imagery and symbolism.The themes of the poem can be divided into two: (1) Childhood reminiscence and its effect (2) Complexity of the future and dilemma.

Childhood reminiscence and its effect

The poem speaker was reminded of his/her “primal youth and the beginning” through the quietness of the early morning river and the echoing forest. While at the riverside, the poem speaker could “hear jungle drums telegraphing/the mystic rhythm…” (Line 2 & 3) and other things like panther, leopard, hunters crouching with poised spears, etc added to his/her memory.The poem speaker revealed in stanza 2, the effect such reminiscence brought to his/her memory of sitting “in my mother’s lap a suckling”, “walking simple paths with no innovations”, and groping in green leaves with wild flowers in naked hurrying feet.

Complexity of the future and dilemma

How complex, unstable and confusing the future looks was portrayed in the stanza 3 of the poem “Piano and Drums”. The poem speaker heard “a wailing piano” which symbolised a painful sound which “solo speaking of complex ways” (the unknown future) and such painful sound brought a silent cry which the poem referred to as “in tear-furrowed concerto”. In spite of the pain, the poem speaker got “lost in the labyrinth of it complexities” which symbolised the confusing complexity of the future through rough(coaxing) mild(diminuendo) opposite-change(counterpoint) and tough(crescendo). The poem speaker concluded that he found himself/herself in dilemma “wandering in the mystic rhythm/of jungle drums and the concerto.”(line 28 & 29)

Poem: The Joy Of Being A Woman

photo from irokoheritageLoving heavenly Father, almighty and ever
lasting God, Creator of us all:
Thank You for the joy of knowing that a new
person is growing within me;
Thank You for using me in Your work of
creation.
Keep me and the child safe during these
months of waiting.
I think of Jesus, born just as my child will be born:
Help my child to grow up like Jesus, strong
and wise
and loving, and knowing You as his heavenly Father;
Help me, like Mary, to put myself, my hus-
band, and my children into Your hands,
With complete trust that You will do what is
best for us all.Poem found in page 78 of “The Joy of being a WOMAN And what a Man can do”(Ingrid Trobisch) HarperSanFrancisco Publishers.

Loving heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, Creator of us all:Thank You for the joy of knowing that a newperson is growing within me;Thank You for using me in Your work ofcreation.Keep me and the child safe during these

IDIOPOETIC EXPRESSIONThere isthis careerwhen you choose ityou'll need meyou'll need he and sheand you'll need the rank and fileyour words can tie,your enemiesand friends and familiesfor you to make itBecauseyou will needto starch your shirtand smile and shake and hugthe riff-raffyou used to laugh aton the streetfor you to make itAnd funnilythe rank and fileand the riff-raffyou shake hands withon the streetwill see you as a mascotand give insince all they hopeis to make ends meetIt is a careeryou will leave no stone unturnto be at cross-purposesboth openlyand in holes and cornerswith your colleaguesfor you to carry the dayYou know why?It is like the military,you must be willing tothrow down the gauntletOr be ready to take itAt anytimeAnd fight like SpartacusIf you choose this careerYou'll turn so predictableAnd after making itYou'll sip ouzosAnd gather life's rosesAnd turn a globetrotterAnd after making itYou'll keep them in tenterhooksAnd even when they meet youOn the streetYou'll make them a good turnAnd ride rough shod over themBy leaving them in the lurchFor them to eat their heart outThen you'll take white elephantAs your herculean dutyIn order to feather your nestAnd still blow your trumpetThrough pressing and airingTo make many seeIt's a yeoman thingThis careerIs a careerWhere you must be niceWith open handsAnd be willing to shareA minute of crocodile silenceFor the victim of the sorrowYou mastermindedAt the last legWhen you must haveRobbed peter to pay paulAnd bitten than can chewAt arms and legsYou begin to hareUp and downTo and froHelter-skelterHiggledy-piggledyLooking for waysTo play hanky-pankyFor the juryNot to lay you by the heelsIf you stillExpect meTo name the careerThen grass will growUnder your feetBecause by nowYou should know it.

An atheist journeyed to Palm-tree village,under the twinkle, twinkle little starshis expedition of ruin beganlantern in his hands,sneaker in his feet,wearing a blue jean,a t-shirt written: I'm An Atheist.Stole from the god...after the kilometer of two plus twolike an angry hippo,thunder began to grumble up above.Mr. Atheist hidamidst the triplet palm treewhile the rainstorm searched for himwith

Aside the commonly used proverbs, idioms, parables, phrasal words, and other words people use very frequently and easily when trying to create indirectness in their expressions, there are few other indirectnesses that can add beauty and maturity to a literary work if properly used.Few among these are irony, euphemisms, paradox, pun, sarcasm.

(1)EUPHEMISMWhat is euphemism?Euphemism, both written and spoken, is a way of replacing derogatory or sorrow inflicting expression with a polite one in order not make it look derogatory. Till this day, many people still struggle to differentiate idiom and euphemism despite the fact that both are commonly used everyday like water. Example of euphemism is the use of pass away to replace die.

(2)IRONYThis' a statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of what is written literally; the use of words expressing

Ifá, I wake to favorÒrúnmìlà, I wake to favorMice always wake to favor in their pathsSerpents always wake to favor in their holesWhenever the pigeons wake in the mornThe only song they singIs the song of favorWhenever sparrows parade the skyThe only song